Tsend, 63, Tsaatan People, Tsaatan Camp, Mongolia
Phil Borges

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Tsend is one of only two Tsaatan shaman, (her 91-year-old mother is the other.) For the Tsaatan, the landscape is alive with spirits - every hill, river, stone and tree is the dwelling place of a distinct being. Tsend, who is blind, was making reindeer skin boots when I met her. When she answered my questions she would talk to me as if she could see me. I asked her for some words of wisdom and she said, "pray for the earth every day, and especially pray for the place where you live."